Nanok Endurance Sleeping bags

[charliefox]

Hi All

Just tried to get hold of a Nanok Endurance "0" sleeping bag for the weekend.
It would appear that there is a bit of a national shortage, expected to last 4 or 5 weeks at least, with practically all national suppliers out of stock. However...

There is a shop called JJ's in Brecon which has a few left. They're not on the web but can be contacted on 01874 610036. The bags are £80, with delivery about another £7.

Although with this heat wave we're supposed to be due for I'm sure we'll all be kipping out under the stars in just our silk liners - right? :D I wish!

Hope that's of some use.

Chris

[Ed]

Cheers for the heads up chris. I know a couple of people were on the lookout for these.

:)
Ed

[tenbears10]

One website says the shortage is dus to the demise of pertex as a company but pretex's site makes no mention of the collapse of the company. In fact they have been winning awards all over but the look of it. :confused:

[Lost in civilisation]

Look here for the story

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/news/article.asp?sp=&v=7&uan=3231

[arctic hobo]

If anyone wants the official line, Nanok UK's Manchester HQ can be found at 0161 4320319 :)

[arctic hobo]

Just phoned them, got the usual good service and a large explanation :)
Basically Nanok use two insulation suppliers - Pertex, and a company in Korea. Pertex have gone into administration, which they say is because a large part of their market is in nylon printer ribbons, which thanks to inkjet and laser printers is a shrinking market. This is a little dubious however, as considering the prices Pertex charge for their material it is very surprising that they have an income problem. Pertex is used in very few bags, and many use a small amount of it so that they can claim "Pertex!". There have apparently (this is from another source, not the Nanok rep) been trading standards issues with Snugpak claiming Pertex liners etc. when there has been no such thing, which is a little cheeky and also a bit illegal. Pertex is an extremely expensive material - it is the reason why down bags are so expensive, as about 5 metres of the stuff is necessary for one bag, while about 3 jackets can be made from just one metre. You may find it is only used on a few areas of a bag, such as around the chest area.
Nanok being a newer company (I believe that they split from Ajungilak of Norway when they were taken over by the Swiss firm Mammut), they do not have large and longstanding orders with Pertex. So when difficulties arose, their supply was cut off while that of the other manufacturers was not, as they could not re-order.
Another problem is that Nanok's other supplier in Korea is not answering enquiries, suggesting that they also have gone the same way. And because Nanok's resources have been mostly directed at shifting production of their Performance range from China to Poland (as China is no longer the source of the best quality synthetic fibre, not due to labour cost issues), things have been able to reach the state they have.
However, new sources of insulation have been found, and within the next few days they will be shipped to the plant, and Endurance bags will be flown here, hopefully getting to our shops in about a week's time. In the meantime, JJ's in Brecon apparently have about 5 bags, and you can reach them on 01874 610036.

[tenbears10]

Well well well karrimor and now pertex. How can companies with such good products manage to go bust? Having said that poor management and overexpansion can achieve amazing results.